The European-Chinese Cultural Dialogue, which took place in Bucharest between 15-17 October 2014, was a success. This is what the participants of the sixth edition concluded, following three intense days of events. The dialogue, which is organized on an annual basis by EUNIC in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Arts, was coordinated this year by the Romanian Cultural Institute.

The theme of the 6th European-Chinese Cultural Dialogue, “Public Spaces – EU and China Sharing Perspectives”, is of particular contemporary relevance due to the world’s process of rapid urbanization. The outlook of future cities represents a major challenge for both Europeans and the Chinese.

The participants amounted to over one hundred architects, artists, and decision-makers in cultural policies from Europe and China. They discussed the possibilities of artists making public spaces more dynamic by endowing them with novel values and meanings, and by involving citizens. Other issues that stood out during the proceedings featured: the economic, cultural and social weight of such participatory attitudes towards public spaces; the creation of sustainable cities; creative images and visions about future urban spaces.

“Your presence here, in Bucharest, convinced me that everything is possible when multiple determined inclinations converge, as they are driven by the most generous of intentions,” declared Lilian Zamfiroiu, the President of the Romanian Cultural Institute, the host of the event.

“Nowadays, 70 percent of China’s population lives in cities, thus facing an array of problems typical of such environments: traffic, pollution, etc. These issues must be solved,” said professor Don Ya from Tianjin University. He also made a remark on Bucharest having many buildings similar to those from China in the 1950s, the so-called matchbox-type apartment buildings. “I am not sure if available solutions are similar in Europe and China, but we discovered that many of the problems are,” noticed Liviu Jicman, the vice-president of the Romanian Cultural Institute.

Moreover, Mary McCarthy, the event’s curator and director of the National Sculpture Factory in Cork (Ireland), underlined at the end of the three days that “the dialogue among artists is different from that of politicians. It often is more efficient. In Bucharest, we pursued genuine and open interactions, which triggered numerous ideas.”

The organizers of the event emphasized that one of the most important accomplishments of the 6th edition of the European-Chinese Cultural Dialogue, was the program of residencies in the European cities of Vienna, Linz, Berlin, Stockholm, Bruxelles, and Cork. During one month, seven artists from China and Hong Kong experienced new creative opportunities and shared, in Bucharest, their findings. One of them, architect Bu Bing from Shanghai told the story of Strömbrom, a bridge in Stockholm that has pillars at varying elevations. “It is a fitting metaphor for our dialogue: two different cultures that raise a bridge between them,” concluded Mary McCarthy.

For Romania, the European-Chinese Cultural Dialogue held particular significance from one point of view: in 2014 we celebrate sixty-five years of Romanian-Chinese diplomatic relations. “It is an anniversary very dear to us. Even though Romania and China are situated at opposite corners of the globe, the two countries long established the best of bilateral relations, which is most obvious in the organization of this event and in the founding of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Beijing. The latter aims to become an interface between Romanian and Chinese cultures,” declared Lilian Zamfiroiu.

The European-Chinese Cultural Dialogue originated in a very simple idea: the creation of a framework for the two worlds to come together, to showcase the best of both cultures, and to share and search together for solutions to the challenges of our times.

The eighth edition of the Night of the Cultural Institutes will take place on 20 June 2014 in Bucharest. It will be an exciting cultural night starting early and ending very late!

The organizers, 13 cultural centers and institutes and embassies, members of the EUNIC Bucharest Cluster, together with the Representation of the European Commission in Romania and the Information Office of the European Parliament in Romania, have prepared a very interesting and rich program of great diversity, that will animate the city center and will charm the public: films, music, theater, poetry, dance, creative workshops, readings, language classes, exhibitions, alternative and interactive events, performances, tastings and fairs.

The entrance to all the events scheduled at the Night of the Cultural Institutes is free.

Mr. Benoit Rutten, Delegate of Wallonia-Brussels, is the President of the EUNIC Bucharest Cluster for 2013-2014 and the Night of the Cultural Institutes is coordinated by the Delegation of Wallonia-Brussels in Bucharest.

Mr. Benoit Rutten, Delegate of Wallonia-Brussels, is the President of EUNIC Bucharest Cluster for 2013-2014 and the European Literature Night is coordinated by the Delegation of Wallonia-Brussels in Bucharest.

Organised jointly by the EU and the Council of Europe, the European Day of Languages continues its effort to raise public awareness of the languages used in Europe, to promote cultural and linguistic diversity and to encourage people – schoolchildren and adults – to learn languages.

The celebration was held September 26, 2013 at the Goethe-Institut Thessaloniki on an “Doors Open Day” and by creating a “EUNIC Corner” (British Council, Goethe-Institut, Institut Francais, Istituto Itialano, Spanish Cultural Center Thessaloniki) informing visitors about European languages.

After the successful first edition last year, this year’s Literature Night in Bucharest goes downtown. The books and the lectors will be looking for the listeners in the city’s crowded cafés, alternative clubs, noisy intersections and totally unexpected (as for literature) venues like a modern petrol station or… the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The lectors are the most prominent Romanian actors, well-known journalists, poets, rappers and among them celebrities and scandalises. It will be loud.

Open Night of the Institutes, one of the most popular cultural events in Bucharest, has reached its sixth edition on June 22, 2012. Since 2007, in June, we have been celebrating the cultural institutes in Bucharest, that on this occasion open their doors wider than they usually do, offering to culture lover audiences a sleepless night full of carefully prepared events and surprises. Since 2009, the Open Night of the Institutes has been placed under the EUNIC umbrella, currently being one of the most successful projects organised by the EUNIC in Romania cluster.

During the Open Night of the Institutes 2012, for more than 16 hours, the public enjoyed an extensive programme of unique cultural events: film screenings, photo exhibitions, concerts for all tastes (guitar, piano and jazz, as well as fado, flamenco, electro and pop culture infusion), different workshops (calligraphy, glass modeling and origami), board games and sports (basketball, hockey, archery, cultural triathlon), dance, book launches and, of course, delicious gastronomic surprises from different countries.

A unique European-Armenian fashion design exhibition was hosted in Bucharest from 7 to 14 June, 2012 in the National Library of Romania. The exhibition showcased the collaboration between five European designers and five Armenian designers participating in the “Fashion Road: Dialogue across the Borders” project.

The opening of the exhibition took place on June 7th, at 19.00, with the participation of the fashion designers Andra Cliţan (Romania) and Aram Nikolyan (Armenia), the curator Tony Charalambous (Great Britain), Tania Radu, vice-president of the Romanian Cultural Institute, Arevik Saribekyan, director of British Council Armenia.

The exhibition will be opened until June 24th, from Monday to Friday, from 9.00 to 19.00. Free access to the exhibition.
Friday, June 8th, from 10.00, the young fashion designers had the opportunity to learn new things about how to include traditional elements in contemporary fashion design in a master class held by the designers Andra Cliţan and Aram Nikolyan, Ioana Avram (National University of Arts Bucharest), coordinator of the creative activity of the two designers during their residency in Romania (July 2011) and curator Tony Charalambous.

Fashion Road is a unique expression of intercultural dialogue and collaboration, made possible by ten gifted fashion designers: five from Armenia and one from each of the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Romania and the United Kingdom. The project celebrates the diversity and harmony of cultures, contextualised in the garments of the designers, and beautifully visualised through textile, colour, cultural elements and the styles of the different countries. (Tony Charalambous, curator)

The „Fashion Road: Dialogue across Borders” collection, including elements of the cultural heritage of Armenia and the European countries, was presented for the first time in Armenia (Yerevan and the other three regions, from February to April 2012), and by the end of 2012 the exhibition will be presented in Germany (July), Denmark (August), UK (September) and the Czech Republic (October).
Launched in 2010, „Fashion Road: Dialogue across Borders” brought together 10 fashion designers from Europe and Armenia: Andra Cliţan (Romania) – Aram Nikolyan (Armenia), Pavel Ivancic (Czech Republic) – Kristine Avetisyan (Armenia), Geannine Pollazzon (United Kingdom) – Lusine Kostanyan (Armenia), Melanie Freier (Germany) – Gayane Soghomonyan (Armenia), Ida Gro Christiansen (Denmark) – Ani Iskandaryan (Armenia), which worked in pairs for developing the project collection.

Coordinated locally by the Romanian Cultural Institute, „Fashion Road: Dialogue across Borders” is a EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture) project organised by British Council, the Czech Centres, Goethe-Institut, the Danish Cultural Institute and RCI, in partnership with the Armenian Fashion Council. The project received the support of the European Union through the Culture Programme
(2007-2013).

Fifth edition and 50 events stretching over 14 hours for the 2011 Night of the Cultural Institutes in eight different locations in Bucharest, on Friday 24 June. Czech hockey and social advertising for the Czech Centre, fashion, jazz, digital film and silent disco for the joint venture between the Hungarian Cultural Centre and the Polish Institute, short and experimental films for the Austrian Cultural Forum, oriental cuisine and music at the Romanian Cultural Institute, Cioran in books and film at the French Institute, interactive theatre at the Italian Cultural Institute: the menu is gargantuesque.
A special free night shuttle by the city public transportation service will be available from 11 pm to 4 am, as well as 60 bikes from Green Revolution.